Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kira
We ran away from the crowd.
Looking back, I should have run toward Rex. But in the moment, he seemed hard to reach. There were so many people milling about and it was just so loud and chaotic.
So, we ran away.
“Maybe there’s somewhere we can hide!” I said.
Trish looked over her shoulder and then straight ahead again, saying, “Up there! They… seem to be… having trouble catching us. Let’s lose ‘em on those stairs.”
Ahead, the house from Psycho loomed ominously high over us. It wasn’t exactly a welcoming place that brought me comfort in my time of distress, but it was better than letting those weirdos catch me! So, I ran alongside my friend, getting ever closer to the famed macabre mansion.
Trish stumbled as we started up the stairs, but I turned around and pulled her up.
“Thanks,” she said.
We were halfway up the staircase when I said, “Just leave me. It’s me—or Lila—they want. Not you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“But… I… lied to you.”
Despite the pleasant temperatures and the sun having gone down long ago, a fine sheen of sweat was breaking out on my forehead as I huffed it up that steep staircase.
How did Norman Bates go up and down this thing all the time? And how did his old-ass mom?
We made it to the top and up onto the porch. The wood creaked loudly beneath us, and I hoped that wasn’t what gave us away. Of course, our pursuers had seen us run up here. But it was sort of dark where we were, and I hoped we could hide.
“Inside,” I whispered.
My breath was caught in my throat as I put my hand on the doorknob. If it was locked, then all I’d done was lead us to a dead end where we’d basically be giftwrapped and waiting for whoever was chasing us.
I released the breath I’d been holding when the knob turned and the door swung open.
The plan had been to go upstairs, find a bedroom or closet, and hide until Rex and the other Daddies found us. The only problem was there were no stairs and no rooms!
It was just a bunch of exposed wooden beams and rafters, like an unfinished attic.
“Hey, there’s nothing in here!” Trish said. “The whole thing is just a fa?ade.”
“And the door doesn’t lock!” I cried, desperately fumbling to find a deadbolt or latch.
A grunt sounded from outside, followed by a loud thud against the wall. There were a few more grunts and groans and the sound of something heavy dropping on the puncheons of the porch.
“All right, girls. It’s me.”
I threw the door open. “Rex!”
Behind him, I could see the park’s security guards rushing onto the scene, along with the other Daddy Guard members.
“Babygirl, are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Trish?”
“Yes, Sir, Uncle Rex.”
He hugged me and I didn’t want the embrace to end. But it had to. A lot might end. Because there was some stuff I needed to say.
“I, uh, have some explaining to do, huh?”
He nodded. “We’ll get to that, after we clear things up with the park.”
I nodded too.
Oh boy. This wasn’t going to be fun.